The present invention relates generally to a terminal or contact portion for use in connection with a printed circuit board, and more particularly, to a terminal or contact end for retaining a connector element or some other subassembly to a printed circuit board (PCB) during assembly.
During the construction of printed circuit board assemblies requiring the connection of various connectors, subassemblies, etc. to the printed circuit board, means are provided on the connector or subassembly for properly aligning the same and for making electrical connection with respect to the desired circuits on the printed circuit board. In the prior art, these means include a plurality of terminal or contact end portions extending from the connector or subassembly and adapted for extension through corresponding holes or openings in the PCB. Normally, these connectors or other subassemblies are temporarily retained with respect to the PCB during assembly by bending or spreading the terminal ends on the back side of the board. Then, after assembly of the PCB structure is complete, the connectors and other subassembly elements are more permanently secured by soldering or other conventional means.
A disadvantage of this prior technique of temporarily retaining connectors or subassemblies to the PCB during assembly is that it requires the additional manual step of bending or spreading the terminal ends on the back side of the PCB. This step is time consuming, compared to the overall time necessary to assemble the printed circuit board assembly, and does not lend itself acceptably to high speed or inexpensive construction. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a PCB terminal or contact end portion capable of retaining a connector or other subassembly unit to a printed circuit board during the assembly process.